Israel Calls for Immediate Dismissal of U.N. Tweeter

Ron Prosor has called for the immediate dismissal of Khulood Badawi, who is widely known for her blatant anti-Israel activism.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

First Publish: 3/18/2012, 8:15 PM

Arabs riot

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, has called for the immediate dismissal of a Jerusalem based U.N. agency employee who is widely known for her blatant anti-Israel activism.

Khulood Badawi, the information and media coordinator for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem, (OCHA), tweeted a controversial photo, on March 10, showing an Arab girl covered in blood laying in the arms of her father, with a caption that read, "Palestine is bleeding … another father killed by #Israel … another father carrying his child to a grave in #Gaza."

The photo, however, was later identified as a 2006 Reuters photo. The girl died in a playground or car accident, not as a result of any actions taken by the IDF.

Yet, the Twitter message, which was re-tweeted by hundreds of other users, was highly instrumental in spreading a new wave of libels against the Israel Defense Forces.

Prosor sent a letter to the U.N. emergency coordinator, Valerie Amos, calling for Badawi’s immediate dismissal.

Prosor wrote that Badawi's actions not only “violate conduct expected of a UN official,” but that she also “actively engaged in the demonization of Israel, a member state of the United Nations. Such actions contribute to incitement, conflict and, ultimately, violence,” according to Fox News, which obtained a copy of the letter.

"Although Ms. Badawi's portrayal of this photo was clearly a blatant falsehood, her post became the top tweet for anything related to Gaza on Twitter," Prosor affirmed.

Amos issued a reply saying, “It is regrettable that an OCHA staff member has posted information on her personal Twitter profile, which is both false and which reflects on issues that are related to her work. The opinions expressed in her tweets in no way reflect the views of OCHA, nor has it been sanctioned by OCHA.”

Badawi, who has neither retracted not apologized for her inaccurate tweet, will remain employed by the agency during an internal investigation, Fox News reported.